


Wooing Lauren Lewis

by Firearcade



Series: All That Happens [2]
Category: Lost Girl
Genre: Dating, F/F, Fluff, Past Relationship(s), Rebirth, Romance, Wooing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-11
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-01-15 00:17:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1284136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firearcade/pseuds/Firearcade
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A fluff sequel to All That Happens Here. Tamsin has taken eight years to be reborn completely. She returns and manages to get Lauren into bed once but the good Doctor isn't going to make the second time round as easy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A lesson in wooing

**Author's Note:**

> The original in this series was written prior to season four and without knowledge of how the Valkyrie rebirth would be treated on the show. I took liberties and have towed the line in this sequel. Basically being that it takes years for Valkyries to return to the mortal plane. 
> 
> No need to have read the original. This is angst free and an attempt at practicing some fluff writing for me.

* * *

Tamsin woke up, her mouth dry and her lips swollen. Her nose was buried deep in dark blonde tufts of hair and her arm draped over Lauren's waist. She didn't mean to but she let out a raw moan as she opened her eyes. She was most definitely nursing a hangover but none of it mattered. The night before was a wonderful blur, the doctor having finally let the Valkyrie back into her bed after eight years of being missing in action.

Tamsin was only sorry she'd spent so much of the evening drinking with Kenzi attempting to work up the Dutch, or perhaps Scandinavian courage as it turns out, required to make her way to Lauren's front door. Of course the doctor was not impressed on seeing her. Tamsin had prepared herself for that.

Lauren was still nursing the wounds of how the Valkyrie had left her all those years ago. Tamsin sacrificed her life to save Bo's without trusting the doctor to find an antivenin that would have saved the day instead. Lauren had only the day before told Tamsin that she was in love with her and had only just heard the taller blonde give her those words back and then she was gone. The human didn't need to find reasons to be angry, the Valkyrie had given her a smorgasbord to choose from.

Despite that Tamsin knew that Lauren had missed her, the rebirth process had allowed her a glimpse enough to know how the human had hurt through the loss. All the Valkyrie needed was the courage to make a move and when she did she felt confident that despite the anger and despite hurt the doctor would give in to the love.

Leaning into the woman's neck Tamsin enjoyed the warm vanilla smells that engulfed her as she pressed her lips into skin. While the doctor may have smelt mouth-watering, Tamsin caught a whiff of the alcohol permeating from her own pores and her face cringed. Immediately she made a decision that she and Lauren should most definitively continue to reacquaint themselves with each other outside of the bed and on the inside of a shower instead.

The Valkyrie bit down gently on Lauren's shoulder in an increasingly non-subtle attempt to wake her sleeping companion. As much as she knew that she had enjoyed the frivolity of the evening before she was ready for take two, the sober edition, to take place.

Lauren turned over her eyes flickering awake as Tamsin adjusted to wrap herself around the repositioned body. Leaning in the Valkyrie began placing soft kisses on her sleeping companion's neck, slowly making her way upwards towards the chin with the irresistible soft pink lips of the human the ultimate goal. The Valkyrie smirked, catching Lauren's eyes seductively as she made her final approach, leaning in for the kiss that was to set the scene for what was to come. Eyes closing Tamsin was on autopilot as she honed in on Lauren's mouth but rather than finding the doctor's wonton lips she instead was met abruptly with a solid hand acting as a barrier between their two faces. The Valkyrie pulled her head back, her eyes staring widely, her brow lifted in concern when she saw Lauren's agitated face staring back.

"Do we have a problem?" She asked, wanting more than anything for this to be the beginning of some kind of stern role playing game.

Lauren removed her hand satisfied that the Valkyrie was not going to make another move for the short term at least.

"Ah, yes, we have a problem. You need to leave"

Tamsin pulled herself back in the bed to take a good look at the face staring back at her, trying to make sense of what was being said. "But Doc.."

Lauren pushed the taller blonde onto her back. "Don't _but Doc_ me Tamsin. Last night was a lapse in concentration on my part." The human rolled over and stood up from the bed. "Now I'm not saying that it wasn't enjoyable but you don't get to just waltz back into my life like nothing happened. You _left me_ without saying anything."

Tamsin was at a loss, finding the unfolding scenario impossible to comprehend. "But ..."

"No! Out." Lauren pulled the covers back off Tasmin leaving the cool morning air to tickle her skin. The Valkyrie noticed Lauren faltering briefly as she gazed over her naked form. If she had thought in that moment that the human was about to change her mind she was quickly set straight as the doctor began to pick up and throw the Valkyrie's discarded clothing at her in the bed.

"Doc, are you seriously going to send me out on the streets? I have no place to go." Tamsin implored as she pulled herself to the edge of the bed with her clothing sat in a crumpled pile on her lap.

"Oh, is that why you came over here last night? You needed a bed to sleep in? Is that what you've done since you've been back in town, finding a nightly conquest to keep you warm?" The smaller blonde glared at her from the other side of the room as she herself pulled on a tank top and a pair of underwear.

"W-what? No! I've been back sleeping in my truck. Come on Doc, I only want you, you know that"

Lauren huffed as she pulled a sweater over her head. "Then you better get to wooing me"

"Wooing?" The disgruntled Valkyrie snorted back.

"Yes, wooing. Your wooing eight years ago amounted to getting me drunk in nightclub and now this time around you show up drunk at my front door. You're not getting me into bed again Tamsin until I feel sufficiently wooed"

Tamsin stood, head tilted looking at the beautiful blonde in front of her. "Well, how about I take you out for breakfast? My shout, anything you want, just name it."

"Breakfast Tamsin? Breakfast! That's the best you can do? Do you even know what wooing is?"

"I think I might know how to spell it." Tamsin smirked.

"That's it, out! Now."

* * *

oOo

Tamsin made her way to Bo's house, the old boarded up clubhouse was more boarded up than usual. Bo had been in the north fighting in the Great Fae Wars and Kenzi had since married Hale. The Valkyrie parked her truck, pulling her weary bones out and making her way to the house. The last time she was at this house Bo had her tied to a chair and not in the deliciously good way.

Tamsin reached the front door only to be met by Bo before her fingers even touched wood.

"Tam Tam! Have you forgiven me? And more importantly, has Lauren forgiven you?" Bo was stood smiling in her kimono.

Bo's recent attempts to bring Tamsin and Lauren back together after the Valkyrie's return had resulted in the blonde getting a solid fist to face from her former lover. It had been the first time Tamsin had listened to and accepted advice from the Succubus and as a trickle of blood ran from her nose she let Bo know in no uncertain terms that she would not be be seeking counsel from her again.

"What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were still up north?" The blonde grunted feeling completely put out by now having to deal with company.

"There's a truce, I've given myself a leave pass for a week. What's going on? Still no luck with Lauren?"

Tamsin growled a little thinking over the morning's confrontation. "I need a bed, the Doc needs a little more warming up before I get a sleep in. Apparently she wants me to woo her,"

"Woo her?" Bo chuckled.

"Yeah. Woo her." The Valkyrie moaned as she pushed past the Succubus in the doorway.

"Oh man you're screwed." Bo laughed.

"Leave it succubitch, just because you having wooing genetics on your side doesn't mean you get to judge the rest of us."

The Valkyrie made her way to the kitchen, looking through cupboards until she found the stash of whiskey she knew Kenzi kept hidden for emergencies.

"Jesus Tamsin it's 10am. Whiskey already?" Bo said taking a seat at the island bench-top.

"I do my best thinking when I'm drunk. Come to think of it, I do my best drinking then too." The blonde took a swig of the whiskey bottle as she continued to pace.

"So, what wooing did you have in mind?" Bo asked trying to keep an encouraging tone.

"I don't know" Tamsin looked up with a shrug, "maybe dinner and a movie?"

"Dinner and a movie?" The Succubus mused rolling her eyes. "Wow, well you get points for originality."

"Oh, ok, well I don't see you helping much! What would you do if Lauren asked you to woo her?" Tamsin asked and saw Bo's eyebrow lift.

"I thought you were never accepting my advice on anything again?"

"Yeah well, as much as I'd hate to admit it, this is kind of your specialty area"

The Succubus grinned smugly, "I am a very accomplished wooer."

"Hold your succubritches a minute, did you try to woo Lauren while I was gone?" The Valkyrie snapped.

"What? No! Of course not, she was far to hung up on you. And then there was that Fae surgeon she worked with, then that police officer Dyson was partnered with, then that.."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold the fuck up! Lauren dated other people?" Tamsin scoffed.

"Women like Lauren attract a lot of attention, you didn't think she'd wait around for you for the better part of a decade did you? Gram Sword or not, you and I both know that girl's got some needs that require attention." Bo smirked, looking at the red glowing face of the jealous Valkyrie.

"The fuck?!" The boiling Valkyrie was feeling nauseous and she wasn't even a third of the way through her bottle of whiskey. "Bo if I don't get this wooing shit right she might never come back to me. You have to help me."

Bo smiled and threw an arm around the blonde who shrugged it off immediately. "Alright Tam Tam, let's come up with something that screams _Valkyrie_ to remind Lauren of how...ummm...awesome you are."

* * *

oOo

Tamsin sat outside the Light Fae compound, her nerves sitting in her stomach as she waited for Lauren to leave work for the evening. The doctor was a workaholic; there was no nine to five for the woman. The Valkyrie was waiting nearly two hours when she finally saw her walk out of the compound. She quickly jumped out of her truck and Lauren saw her immediately.

"I hope you're not here looking for a bed for the night again?" The doctor asked half smiling, trying to hide the fact that she had been thinking about Tamsin all day.

"Nuh uh Doc, I'm here for the strict purposes of wooing" Tamsin grinned.

"Wooing hey?" Lauren snorted.

The tall blonde nodded. "Your words Doc, wooing."

"Ok, so woo me Tamsin, let's see what you've got."

"Alright, hop in." The Valkyrie rushed to the passenger side of the truck to the open the door for her date.

Lauren took Tamsin's hand as she stepped up and into the cab of the vehicle noting the woman's attempt at magnanimity with a smile. "Nice start" she muttered.

"You ain't seen nothin' Doc."

oOo

The two drove in relative silence for most of trip. Tamsin was concentrating her effort on two things. Firstly and at the behest of the Succubus she was simply trying not to say something stupid. Secondly, with Lauren in such close proximity she was only just resisting the urge to pull over the truck and ravage the woman by the roadside.

"So, are you going to let me in on where we are going?" Lauren asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.

Tamsin kept her eyes on the road. "You know Doc part of the wooing experience is just sitting back and taking it all in."

Lauren sat arms folded across her chest still unconvinced by the Valkyrie's knowledge on the subject. "Really? Who told you that?"

Tamsin turned her head to the doctor. "You think you're the first person I've wooed in my many lifetimes?"

"Quite frankly, yes." Lauren stated emphatically.

"Well you'd be right." Tamsin admitted. "Most people find my personality and good looks sufficient. _Maybe_ some people are just a little too picky."

"Drifting quickly out of the wooing zone here Valkyrie." Lauren shot back.

Tamsin reverted to the Succubus suggested approach of keeping her mouth shut.

It was only a total of fifteen minutes drive until they reached their destination and Tamsin pulled the truck up outside a dimly lit abandoned warehouse building.

"Is this…is this the nightclub you took me to where we first kissed?" Lauren asked narrowing her eyes as she assessed the building.

"It can't just be the kiss you remember from that night." Tamsin grinned arrogantly.

"No you're right there were your ordinary 'dance moves' too." Lauren gave the other woman the bunny ears.

"You're breakin' my heart here." Tamsin moaned as she hoped out of the truck cab and walked around to the side where she opened Lauren's door.

"Looks like you're out of luck, this place appears to have been shut down a long time ago" Lauren said as she took Tamsin's hand and hopped out onto the street.

"Come on." Tamsin said leading the doctor by the hand. "Let's go take a closer look." The tall blonde forced open the door of the formerly pumping club with her shoulder. She took out a small torch and led Lauren up the stairs of the building.

"If you're trying to terrify me back into bed with you it won't work, like I said I've already seen you dance once." Lauren removed her hand from Tamsin's and instead wrapped her arm around the Valkyrie's waist as they moved forward through the dark building. The taller blonde delighted in having the doctor's body pulled in next her own.

As they reached the landing of the staircase Lauren squinted her eyes beyond the light of the torch to the cleared space that was once the dance floor of the abandoned club.

"Tamsin…" the doctor's breath caught in her own throat. There spread out in front of her, in the middle of the old dance floor, where Lauren estimated was probably the exact spot the two had shared their first kiss more than eight years earlier was a table surrounded by candles with a bottle of wine chilling at its center.

Turning to the Valkyrie before they walked any further, Lauren grabbed her by jacket shaking her head in disbelief. "How did you do this?"

"I can't give up the secrets of the wooer Doc." The Valkyrie was feeling pretty satisfied with the woman's reaction.

Tamsin walked them over to the table and pulled out Lauren's chair before pouring the doctor a glass of wine. She then went to her own chair and leant down to a cool box positioned next to her and reached in pulling out a small tray of oysters placing them on the table.

"Oysters?" Lauren's eyes lit up.

"Apparently they make you horny." The Valkyrie mused as she quickly brought a shucked shell to her lips.

Lauren laughed. "Actually there is little evidence to suggest the aphrodisiac qualities of oysters. It was in fact Casanova who espoused the supposed stimulatory benefits. It's simply folklore, there's no science in it at all"

"Casanova hey? Met him once. Weird hair, bad breath, I don't know what the ladies saw in him."

"You met the Giacomo Casanova? Did you, you know?" Lauren's eyes were wide in anticipation.

"God no." Tamsin hesitated as she ploughed through her memories that were still coming back to her. "Well, actually there might have been one time. We were both in the same room, it was kind of an orgy thing, but there were _a lot of people_ , body bits everywhere, hands, feet, other things. It was dark and a long time ago so it's hard to say for sure but I'm going to go with no."

Lauren rolled her eyes, "I might need you to disinfect as well as woo before you get back into my bed."

Tamsin smirked. "Different life Doc, I come this time round with a clean bill of health. I can give you my papers if you like, I've had all my shots."

Lauren laughed as she brought an oyster to her mouth. "So Casanova, was he, you know, Fae?"

"Incubus" Tasmin said matter-of-factly.

"Of course he was!" Lauren gushed. "That makes such sense."

Tamsin stared at Lauren and smiled. She loved watching the pure unadulterated joy on the doctor's face when she learned something new which in the normal course of her day for a genius was rare. The Valkyrie however had so many lifetimes of history to draw on that she had often been able to elicit this kind of response from her.

"You're staring." Lauren caught the held gaze burning into her own.

Tamsin shrugged. "Whadda ya expect? You're pretty hot, it's hard not to."

Lauren smiled and looked around the room trying to hide her embarrassed red cheeks. "You done good tonight Valkyrie."

Tamsin stood up and walked around to the other side of the table. "Still one more thing Doc."

Lauren looked up at the hand held out in front of her. "What's that for?" she asked suspiciously.

"Well I know you said I can't dance, but there's no way we can come back here and not at least have one dance together right? For old times sake."

Lauren stood up, taking Tamsin's hand as she pulled her in flush against her body, wrapping her arms above her shoulders as they swayed face to face.

"So I don't hear any music." The doctor whispered.

Tamsin leaned her cheek to the side of the doctor face, closing her eyes as she took in the woman's scent. "Possibly for the best given you think I've got no rhythm anyway." She muttered with a wry grin.

Lauren gripped at the back of Tamsin shirt lightly. "Well, you certainly reminded me last night that you've got rhythm in lots of other places outside of the dance floor." The smaller woman smiled seductively.

"Is that right?" the Valkyrie chuckled.

Lauren moved her face away slightly to look Tamsin dead in the eye. "You don't remember much about last night do you? You were too drunk right?"

Tamsin huffed. "All I remember is being really awesome in bed."

The doctor couldn't help but laugh. "Lucky guess."

Lauren lay her head on the Valkyrie's collarbone and just held tight, enjoying what felt like the most perfect moment she had experienced since Tamsin left her bed eight years earlier.

* * *

oOo

Tamsin drove Lauren home with the doctor's fingers caught in her own, their hands sitting together on her knee. When they arrived at the doctor's apartment Tamsin walked her to her front door. Lauren put the key in her apartment door and turned around to face the Valkyrie who was lingering behind her.

The human smiled at the Tamsin's hopeful eyes. This powerful Valkyrie, the harbinger of death, far too fretful to ask for what it was she wanted most. Everything about the moment felt to both women like a first date. The awkward tension that was building and the butterflies that sat keenly in the pit of both their stomachs.

Lauren leant against the door, attempting to act relaxed and in control but the woman was not sure what she really wanted to happen. She had been the one who had demanded more from the Valkyrie and it was fair to say the she had delivered. She fiddled with the corners of her leather jacket almost nervously. "I had a really lovely night."

The tall blonde smiled self-consciously, looking down at her feet to avert her eyes from the earnest hazel bulbs staring back at her. "Yeah, well, you were right Doc."

"Come again?" Lauren said with a raised eyebrow.

Tamsin shrugged her shoulders. "You do deserve more than a drunken booty call is all I'm saying." The tall blonde took a tentative step forward. "That was never what you were and that'll never be what you are."

The two faces were so very close now that all either one of the women could see and concentrate on were the lips of the other. Lauren placed her hands on the Valkyrie's waist and guided Tamsin the rest of the way bringing their bodies together as their mouths hovered a little longer in anticipation of what was to come.

Tamsin leaned down slightly, tilting her head as she slid past the doctor's nose and gently brought her lips down upon Lauren's. It was the softest of kisses awash with a tenderness that the two had only glimpsed at together previously. Lauren moaned into the suppleness of it, allowing Tamsin to respond with a still gentle prodding tongue that sought but never forced. The doctor was all too willing to concede, parting her lips just enough so as to allow the tip of her own tongue to trace the tip of the Valkyrie's as they drank of each other's wine tinged breath.

When Tamsin pulled her face away slowly she held to Lauren closely, her hands reached around to the small of the woman's back, her hips pushed into the corresponding ones in front of her. Lauren heard a deep inhale of breath as the Valkyrie leaned her forehead on the door behind Lauren.

The taller blonde felt like she might burn through that door as she was coaching herself in an internal dialogue that was aimed at resisting the most animalistic of urges that were rushing through her body. She was still a baby in Valkyrie terms and still mastering the control of her powers, her wants and desires. When she felt ready she brought her face back to face Lauren's who's concerned eyes were waiting for her.

"Tamsin?" The doctor whispered not sure what had just happened.

The Valkyrie looked at her with an intense stare and then shook her head. "You do things to me." She confessed.

Lauren's head cocked slightly and she smiled as Tamsin stepped back from her.

"Goodnight Doc, I'll see you for some more wooing soon." With that the Valkyrie found the will to walk away leaving a gob smacked doctor still pinned to her door.


	2. Tipping Point

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Three weeks, eight date nights, four breakfasts and still no sex. Tamsin had brought her A-game to the wooing of Lauren Lewis but still the human found a means to resist her. The Valkyrie was at a loss.

Three weeks, eight date nights, four breakfasts and still no sex. Tamsin had brought her A-game to the wooing of Lauren Lewis but still the human found a means to resist her. The Valkyrie was at a loss.

After the success of their first date Tamsin had spent the subsequent three dates simply taking Lauren out for dinner. The Doctor caught her up on what she had missed in eight years of absence. They spent a lot of time talking about what had happened between the two of them in Tamsin's previous life and all the talking helped to put to bed the hurt of the past. But that was all that was getting to bed.

Come the end of each of those nights Tamsin made clear her intentions but struggled to even get a hand under the hem of the Doctor's pristine button downs. Lauren initially only allowed the Valkyrie a good night kiss, albeit passionate ones, within the confines of the taller woman's truck. Tamsin left those dates worked up to the point of breaking, the burn on her scalp from where Lauren's fingers had been entangled in her hair a constant reminder. Every touch, glance and taste of Lauren's lips seared into a memory that would not allow her to think of anything else. When they parted ways Tamsin resorted to banging out her frustration with exercise before conceding to fantasy alone wrapped in her sheets.

On the evening of their fifth date night Lauren had let the Valkyrie walk her to her apartment, the taller blonde sure she was going to be invited in. Lauren led her to her front door before turning into the Tamsin's expectant arms and kissing her fiercely. As they separated Tamsin was at the point on unrestrained panting, her body buzzing with electricity when Lauren leaned into her ear and whispered goodnight. Before she could even comprehend of what was happening the door was shut and Valkyrie stood in front of it shocked, desperate and scorching hot with desire.

Getting to the human's front door again was at least a step forward and Tamsin felt sure she was only a date, maybe two, away from the bedroom itself. Unfortunately a further three dates passed without an opportunity to even make a run for home plate and the Valkyrie was now at her wits end. She'd tried all of her best moves, used all of her charm and wit and yet it was as though Lauren was completely immune. In the back of her mind the Valkyrie began to worry that perhaps eight years had been too long apart. She wondered whether Lauren was still deciding if she wanted to advance their relationship at all. If she did want to advance it, if she at all felt a speck of desire to the extent that Tamsin knew, then the Fae was beginning to believe that perhaps the woman possessed superhuman powers of sexual resistance.

Tamsin was bordering on sick with the affliction of need for the human. Her stomach hurt, a strange anxiety settled in her chest and she was finding it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time. Any time she could get with the Doctor provided a small relief that lessened the symptoms but just as quickly when they parted she found her aliment inflamed again and usually with a renewed vigor.

She was fast finding Lauren physically difficult to resist. She'd never been one for PDA, in fact quite the opposite. Now when on dates she found herself trying to take Lauren's hand, stroking her knee while they were at the movie theater and kissing her when the chance arose. In addition to the sickness she was feeling in not having won back the Doctor's full affection Tamsin was now making herself sick with her own needy behavior.

The Valkyrie needed a second opinion that there wasn't something physically wrong, that she wasn't going to internally combust given the reaction her body was having. In her mind she was convinced that getting Lauren back into bed was going to cure all these ails but after weeks of trying she was equally convinced she didn't possess the wooing capabilities to get the woman there.

It was time to call in reinforcements and who better than Kenzi to assist.

"You're not sick you fool. You're in love." Kenzi rolled her eyes as she stood up from the stool by the island bench that sat in the middle of the kitchen she once called home.

Tamsin stared wide-eyed and waiting for more as Kenzi pulled out a bottle of vodka stored cold in the freezer. She went to the cupboard and came back with two tumblers placing them down with a clink as she released her grip and cracked open the frozen bottle.

"This isn't what it felt like last time." Tamsin huffed, accepting greedily the vodka as it was slid in front of her.

Kenzi shot down the neat pour, a small twitch above her left eye the only thing giving her away as having registered the triple distilled Finnish vodka. "Yeah, well, eight years ago you were able let that love manifest into a sweaty dirty physical dance. Right now you ain't got no outlet."

"Damn straight." Tamsin scoffed, her entire face scrunching as she downed her glass. She let out a breath and gave a small shake of her head. Her alcohol tolerance was still high but in her new body she felt the spirit more as it lit a fire down her gullet and burned at the center of her gut. "She's a doctor she should know better than to mess with someone's health like this."

Tamsin's voice was sketchy and it made Kenzi smile to see the once iron gutted Valkyrie struggle a little.

"She's not putting out Tamsin, it's not like she's denying you universal health." Kenzi poured another round but this time sipped at her drink as she kept her eyes on the blonde.

"So whaddo I do?"

Kenzi stood once more from her seat, walking around to the back of the Valkyrie like a master assessing her pupil. She leaned into the still forward facing blonde's ear, whispering in a tone that suggested she knew the answers not just to this problem but to the world as whole. "You need to shake up your date nights, they're sounding pretty beige."

Tamsin's head snapped around. "Are you serious? I'm wooing her. This is some Jane Austin style shit I've got going on! Dinner, flowers, I've even tried to keep my language clean. What else could she possibly want?"

The dark haired woman marched the room, her glass cupped in her hand. She was teaching now as she stopped in front of Valkyrie, tutting at her as she shook her head. "You know in all the time you were together you never just dated. You were always just getting beat up and broken down, fighting evil, finding cures and you-" Kenzi poked Tamsin in the shoulder. "You ended it all by getting yourself executed. Not exactly a girl's fantasy are you? You might want to forgive the Doc for wanting a little more second time around"

Tamsin's chest deflated as she pondered the words. She knew she was perhaps being a little selfish, it had only been a few weeks and here she was, sat in front of the newly married Kenzi complaining about a lack of sex. She let out a steady breath and the dark haired woman watched her process her thoughts.

"I'm horny Kenz."

Kenzi stood mouth agape before shaking her head once more and finishing the last of the vodka in her glass.

In fairness to the Valkyrie she was thinking all the right things but her mouth, well her mouth wasn't quite there yet.

"Jeez Tamsin." Kenzi returned to her seat, slamming down her glass harder than was required as she returned to the bottle.

"What?" The blonde scoffed. "What do you expect? She's all soft to kiss and when she touches me...I get really turned on and my stomach feels like it's in my chest. I just can't control how much I want her Kenz. She wants me to be all Captain America and I'm feeling all Incredible Hulk if you catch my drift."

The earnestness of the Valkyrie's voice made Kenzi smile. "D'aww TamTam, you do lurve her."

Tamsin just shrugged and mirrored Kenzi's return to fast drinking as she pushed her glass back under the Slavic woman's nose. "So are we going to shoot the breeze about my case of feels or are you going to get to advice making?"

Kenzi huffed. "If you want to get Lauren into more sexy time then maybe try a date that's a little more along those lines"

A refilled glass was pushed back across the bench and this time Tamsin led, her eyes flicked up in thought before shutting hard as she swallowed down the alcohol in a single gulp. She wheezed as she forced down a cough. "Like what? Dinner and strip bar?"

"Close. I like the way you're thinking though." Kenzi said, proudly pouring a refill for her tall protégé. "But how about something more like dinner and a burlesque show?"

"Kenzi! That's genius and I know just the place."

oOo

Tamsin was early to Lauren's apartment. She let herself in without a second thought and when the downstairs area appeared vacant she called out to Lauren to announce her arrival. The human poked her head out at the top of the staircase looking slightly disheveled and wrapped in a robe.

"I'm still getting ready. You're early." Lauren sighed, a small panic setting across her face.

"No rush Doc. I'll make myself comfortable."

After about twenty-five minutes and with one beer already emptied Tamsin began to fidget. There was no rush but that eager feeling of desperateness has returned to the pit of her stomach. If Lauren didn't make her way downstairs soon then she feared she might empty more beers than she should in an attempt to calm the nerves.

"You planning on coming on this date Doc or shall we stay in for the night?"

She barely had the words out before the sight of Lauren at the crest of the staircase had her picking up her jaw from the ground. The Doctor delicately made her way down in a short deep maroon dress that dipped low on her décolleté providing the most sensual outline of her breasts. Tamsin bit down on her lip, needing very little imagination to get a picture in her mind of what lay beneath the thin slither of fabric.

By the time Lauren had completely descended the Valkyrie's mouth was desert dry forcing the woman to swallow hard. Lauren smirked at her and Tamsin cursed the human without saying a word but she imagined all the teasing she would eventually retort with when the time was right.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Lauren asked, as Tamsin made no effort at all to hide her ogling.

"Fuck Doc." Was all the Valkyrie could manage as now both her brain and mouth were failing to function properly.

"Hmmm" Lauren purred seductively, placing a soft and chaste kiss on the taller woman's lips. "Not yet, you've got a little bit of work to do still."

Tamsin tried to steady her mind. This night was to be about her working Lauren up to the point of no control not the other way around. She took a breath and nodded. "You look smoking hot Doc, ya definitely get points for trying."

Lauren tried to contain a scoff but it puffed out of her mouth like a heavy breath and Tamsin grinned at her offense.

"Points for trying?" The human said incredulously.

"Yeah, points for trying. Tonight, I'm going to take you somewhere where the sexiness and naughtiness is completely off the hook, so this a nice start."

"You're not taking me to a strip bar are you Tamsin, because if you are -"

Tamsin broke in quickly. "Nah I'm not taking you to a strip bar Doc, I'll let you save that one as a gift for me another time. Come on, let's go or we'll be late for dinner."

oOo

Dinner went well but their dinners always did. There was a lot Tamsin had to learn about Lauren, her life and her past. Tamsin too shared tales of her earlier lifetimes, battles she'd seen and the burden of pain she'd carried. Since their time together locked away by the Dark in the pits they called dungeons the two had always found talking to each other about their usually quieted pasts easy. A discussion about the past was so much less testing for their relationship than a discussion about the future.

When dinner ended Tamsin led Lauren out of the restaurant and she hailed a cab. She'd thought one way of ensuring that the night didn't end with a simple 'in truck' make out session was to leave the truck at home. Plus, it meant she could have a few more drinks without getting the worried glares from Lauren about her driving capacity.

"So?" Lauren lifted her eyebrows in Tamsin's direction as they sat in the back of the car.

"So what?"

"So where to from here?"

Tasmin put her hand on the doctor's exposed knee, feeling the slightest tremble returned by the human to her touch. She rubbed her thumb gently across skin trying to stoke the beginnings of the woman's fire but only served to ignite her own.

"I'm taking you to a show."

Lauren leaned into the Valkyrie's ear, pressing short kisses on her lobe and then down her neck as she engaged in the game that Tamsin had begun. "A show?" She muttered, emphasizing a breath that swirled in the other blonde's ear. "Colour me surprised, I didn't take you for the theatre type."

Tamsin couldn't resist tilting her neck, allowing Lauren greater access before turning back into the kiss and nudging Lauren's head to look up as she pressed into her lips. She wanted to yell at the taxi driver. To tell him to turn the car around and take them back to Lauren's apartment. She wanted to be anywhere but in the back seat of a car where access to Lauren was so much harder than it need be. But Tamsin knew what Lauren was playing at just as Lauren knew the Valkyrie's game, so she resisted.

Tamsin pulled away from the kisses they were now indulging in, showing her strength of resolve as Lauren pouted momentarily.

"Ouch Doc." She said, smirking at the doctor's reaction to their sudden separation. "A girl might think you're accusing her of being uncultured. I lived through the Shakespearean period, I sat in the Globe and watched that shit first hand. I know a thing or two about good theatre Doc."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –" Lauren placed her hand on Tamsin's and squeezed. "It's a nice surprise. Thank you."

The cab pulled up at their destination. A small neon sign lit up in pink read 'The Hour' within a looping arrow pointing to a door. It was innocuous enough and Lauren was immediately intrigued.

As they exited the cab Lauren took Tamsin's hand and the Valkyrie led them through the door. Inside a heavy-set man sat behind a counter. He looked up at them as they entered and sat up a little straighter as they arrived in front of him.

"Tickets?" He groaned out.

"Nah." Said Tamsin.

"No ticket. No entry." The man stated emphatically, holding Tamsin's eye as they entered into a staring contest of sorts.

"I don't need ticket. Tell Podge that Tamsin's here."

The man scrunched his face. "All Podge is going to tell ya is what I just told ya lady. No ticket no entry. We're booked up tonight."

The Valkyrie leaned in close to him, Lauren holding tight to her arm. "Call Podge and tell him Tamsin is here."

The man cursed under his breath making sure it was loud enough for Tamsin to hear. He picked up his phone and pressed down on the receiver before bringing the handset to his ear.

"Boss. A woman's here, says her name is Tamsin." The man's nose flared as words were spoken down the line. "I'll check." He responded to whatever had just been said before looking to the Valkyrie. "How many in your party?"

"Just the two of us."

The man nodded before bringing the phone to his ear again. "Just two boss." There was a pause for a moment before the man hung up. He looked up at the two women unable to hide a growing fury creeping across his face. "Your table is being prepared. You can go inside and wait at the bar."

"Thanks for your help. You're a peach." Tamsin winked, took Lauren's hand and walked her down a dark hallway.

"What was that?" Lauren asked, half bewildered, half impressed and wholly aroused by the Valkrie's show of steal.

"The owner of this club and I go back a ways. He owes me a few favors and I like to call them in every now and then."

They walked through a door and into the cabaret bar with tables set all around. No single table could take more than four people as they sat dimly lit with small candles set in their center. A stage was set up the front of the room, lit in blues and purples. On the stage a woman dressed in tight-fitting red and black corset walked under the spotlight. The microphone hung from the ceiling and dropped to her jaw. She grabbed it, pulling it towards her as she turned her gaze out onto the dark room in front of her.

Lauren watched the stage, the lights and the woman in all her glory but was distracted. She held onto to Tamsin's hand as she was pulled closer and closer towards the front.

"Where are we going?" She tried to ask, but Tamsin barely heard a mutter above the announcements that were taking place in front of them.

Tamsin stopped at table at the front of the room, pulling out Lauren's chair as they sat close enough to the stage to feel the heat of the spotlight and look upon the singular dust particles as they danced in the light beam.

The next act was announced by the woman on stage, her voice squealing joyous with delight just as a bottle of champagne was placed on the small table in front them. The Valkyrie poured them both a glass before resting her hand on the human's thigh pushing up the line of Lauren's dress ever so slightly.

Tamsin felt Lauren shutter to the touch but sat with eyes forward trying hard to lock down her own growing desire as her fingers crawled gently across skin.

Out on stage walked a woman naked except for balloons to cover her most holy of holies and laid like coronation bunting across her chest. She was beautiful; her dark eyes somehow shining luminescent under the hard blue lights.

Tamin squeezed Lauren's leg as the woman faced them, smiling down as she pulled a giant pin from her hair. The music ramped up and the balloons began to pop. With every pop Lauren pulled herself slightly closer into Tamsin's embrace. First she gripped at her hand, then her arm and then the Valkyrie's own leg. When the performer on stage finally revealed her naked chest the two women at the table most closely situated to the stage were unaware as they were busy making out.

The crowd cheered and Tamsin felt sure it was for her as she slipped her hand up easily and without reticence between Lauren's thighs. She kept her eyes closed for as long as she could but they shot open when she felt a scorching heat radiating on her hand.

"Lauren." Tamsin begged.

The smaller blonde blew out a low groan as she shut her eyes tightly.

"Lauren. Can we leave?" Tamsin pleaded, as her finger touched the soaked outer layer of the Doctor's underwear.

"Home." Was all Lauren could eke out as the final balloon popped to the raucous cheers in the room.

By the time Lauren and Tamsin had maneuvered their way out of the bar onto the street and into a cab, they were completely unaware of the world around them. Tamsin was able to bark out Lauren's address to the cab driver as she and Doctor kept themselves tittering on the edge of their own person restraint.

"Get me inside." Lauren groaned, as they pulled up at the apartment complex. Tamsin knew this dance and threw a fifty at the driver before dragging Lauren out of the car and to the door of her home.

Lauren turned with keys in hand, pushing the door open and falling inside but immediately noticed the Valkyrie was not behind her.

"What are you doing? Are you coming inside?"

Tamsin stood in the doorway smirking but locked to the spot. "So are you asking me in?"

'C'mere." Lauren said, grabbing the Fae behind her neck and pulling her into a hard kiss. "I need you." She said in between breaths.

Tamsin stumbled into the apartment pushing Lauren forward and closing the door desperately behind them.

Everything from that moment on was a blur. How they ended up half-naked on the staircase or wholly so in the Doctor's bed. How they came to be wrapped around each other, skin wet and sticky with beaded sweat. When Lauren's back arched up Tamsin watched her with new-born eyes and when she herself rolled across the orgasmic waves that the human gave to her she clung tightly, desperate to hold onto her for whatever time she might be allowed.

Tamsin held to Lauren while the moonlight streamed through half closed curtains and was gripped to her still when the first rays of early morning sun pierced their skin. Lauren stirred in the warmth of the sunlight and Tamsin groaned at the movement knowing their evening was over and a new day born to face.

"Morning." Lauren croaked, her nose and mouth nuzzled into the soft skin in the crook on the Valkyrie's neck.

"Hey."

Lauren pulled her body into an exaggerate stretch, air popped in her joints as she sat up in the bed. She looked down at Tamsin and smiled. "Worth the wait."

It was unclear to the Valkyrie whether the words were uttered in statement or question.

Tamsin smiled softly acknowledging the duality without seeking clarification as she reached her hand up into the golden locks of hair that sat across Lauren's features. The Doctor obeyed the movement without question, bringing her body back down onto Tamsin's as skin melded once more into skin. They kissed and it was luxuriously slow and indulgent.

"Are you going to make me wait before we go again?" Tamsin asked, terrified of actually what the response might be.

"Yes." Lauren said, as she lay soft kisses across the Valkyrie's cheek and lips. She looked down to see a startled set of eyes staring back at her. "You'll have to wait, at least until I brush my teeth."

"Ah." Tamsin flung back the covers leaving them both exposed to the cool morning air. Lauren gasped at the sudden coolness. "Up you get Doc. I'm not sure I can wait a second longer than I have to this time round."

Lauren laughed as she dragged herself to the edge of the bed, looking over her shoulder at her sleeping companion. "Wooing is done with then?"

"Nah. I'm just getting warmed up Doc." Tamsin smirked as she pulled Lauren up by the hand and dragged her towards the bathroom laughing.

 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tamsin makes herself at home.

Lauren could hear the sound of her television droning down the hallway. She searched her pocket for keys, slowing as she neared her apartment door. On the other side she could clearly hear dramatic string sections screeching from the large television that Tamsin had bought her a week earlier. She'd insisted that a 56" screen and subwoofers would make Lauren's documentaries more palatable for both of them, ignoring the fact that it was usually her who sat marveling as the majestic antelope tried desperately to escape the hungry lioness. Lauren would admit that there was something special about watching a harbinger of death root quietly for survival.

Truth be known, Tamsin never watched anything she didn't want to watch anyway. If Lauren did somehow manage to pry control of the remote away from her she'd soon find warm lips on her neck. It never stopped there either. Before she could offer more than a grumble of complaint there would be a hand slipping under her shirt and a warm salacious breath in her ear. It would always end the same way, the television playing in the background as Lauren lay arched up on the couch, jeans hanging around her ankles and an enthusiastic Valkyrie between her legs.

When Tamsin wasn't marking Lauren, she had taken to marking her apartment as her own. It wasn't just the claiming of the television, it was everything else too. The fridge seemed permanently stocked with beer at the expense of milk and Lauren's pristinely ordered wardrobe had suddenly become stuffed with unwashed clothing. Since letting her back into her bed Tamsin had taken to spending less and less time with Bo at the clubhouse and more and more time stretched out on Lauren's couch, eating Lauren's food and just generally getting under Lauren's feet.

How she even got into her apartment Lauren wasn't sure, she'd not given her a key. When asked about it Tamsin typically made some tongue in cheek remark about how breaking into the apartment was a breeze after how long it had taken her to break back into Lauren's underwear.

As she turned the key and pushed open the door Lauren felt some light resistance on the other side. Sticking her head around she saw Tamsin's blue leather jacket lying on the floor, lodged under the sill. It had clearly landed there after one of the Tamsin's failed attempts at throwing it from a distance at the coat rack near the door. That's what Tamsin does; she throws jackets at coat racks and forgets to pick them up when they miss. Sometimes Lauren felt like accusing her of acting all of her eight reborn years, it irked her that she didn't seem to carry any of the anxiety that burdened her own human adulthood. There was a lot about having Tamsin back in her life that she was getting used to but the woman's penchant for untidiness was a particular personal struggle.

Lauren leant down muttering complaints all the way as she picked up the jacket from the floor.

"Your stuff is everywhere." There was a deliberate annunciation on the word  _stuff_ that was hard to miss.

Tamsin lifted herself up from her lying position on the couch, leaning up on her elbows and glancing over at Lauren as she dropped her bag on the kitchen table.

"You don't do hellos anymore?" She swung her legs round and off the couch.

Lauren said nothing and instead began immediately clearing the dirty dishes that were strewn across the kitchen bench top. A mug of cold, half drunk coffee sat next to a plate with a partly eaten sandwich.

Tamsin hit pause on the television, allowing a freeze to set in the room as the noise of shrieking teenagers was cut in the background. It was horror night on some obscure Japanese television channel that she'd managed to rig the cable for. All that could wait for now.

"You don't need to do that, that's mine, I can clean it up."

Lauren shot her a look, an eyebrow lifted and a barely there tilt of the head. Tamsin wasn't sure whether those things combined amounted to anger or amusement. There were some gentle tells that Lauren could give off that were awfully confusing to her still.

Thinking better than to leave it to chance Tamsin sauntered up behind Lauren who was rinsing the dishes in the sink. She brought her mouth close to her ear, a smirk rising to her lips as she felt Lauren push back into her stomach.  _That urged her on_. She dropped one hand down to Lauren's thigh, pulling her closer by the hip with the other as her thumb pushed into denim. Lauren's head rolled, allowing Tamsin's lips the access required to ghost up her pulsating jugular. The fractional contact doing enough to catch Tamsin's breath in her throat. It sat there almost painfully until she was able to force it's release at the shell of Lauren's ear.

"Just for the record," she whispered, as Lauren hummed in her arms placated. "I don't have  _stuff_ , I have things."

It need not have been poetry. In fact, had Tamsin spoken any other words she could have had the human right there and then. No matter how weary Lauren was, Tamsin always knew how to elicit a response from her. For the most part it was through the physical, her body responding to the touch of skin or the press of lips. But very occasionally Tamsin was working out that her quick wit and snark could elicit an emotive response all of it's own.

Lauren turned on the spot, bringing the two women chest to chest, her nose turned upward to meet the blue green eyes staring down at her.

"Oh?" She growled, folding her arms defiantly. "And the difference between  _stuff_  and  _things_  is, prey tell?"

Tamsin admonished herself internally but gave Lauren a knowing smirk, not wanting to show her the seven ways in which she was currently kicking her own arse.

"Well, what do you consider  _stuff_?" She leant down with that ask and made a lame attempt to capture Lauren's lips, but she was having none of it.

Pushing back Lauren walked behind her and picked up a randomly placed pearl handled penknife that was next to her coffee machine.

"This Tamsin." Lauren waved the blade about. "A knife? What is this knife doing here? Afraid the fresh acidic aromas of my Columbian mix blend is going to need some fighting off?"

Tamsin rolled her eyes. "Give me that." She said, holding out her hand and Lauren dutifully obliged. " _This_ is not stuff. This is a thing, an important thing"

Lauren stared at her unconvinced. "Oh? Really?"

Tamsin ran her finger up the steel edge, stopping her finger at the sharpened point and pushing the tip of her index into it gently.

"George Washington's mother gave him this knife, it's a goddamn national treasure, south of the border at least."

Lauren let out a sarcastic laugh. "Oh please, I've seen these, it's a replica of Washington's knife, right? And a bad one at that. Every infomercial around the 4th of July is selling these Camillus knives."

"Not this one Doc. Washington was a General, he got a hero's welcome in Valhalla. I happened to have won this in a card game against the Valkryie who took him there. She always had a reputation for sticky fingers."

Lauren looked on, mortified.

Tamsin put her hands up. "Hey, I didn't steal it. I won it."

While Lauren stood with wide eyes, gaping and unsure of what to say, Tamsin made her way back over to the coffee machine and pushed the blade into the bean draw and twisted. The draw bounced open with a pop and Tamsin grinned, satisfied with the demonstration

"These Columbian fair trade beans keeping getting jammed in this cheap imitation of a coffee machine. If I didn't fix this thing every day you'd go without your morning java. I've seen that Lewis, it's not pretty"

Lauren huffed. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is."

There were some points Lauren knew better than to argue. She didn't do well without coffee, that was true, but rather than concede she just continued to stare Tamsin down in what was an increasingly tense standoff.

"Alright then." Lauren walked over to the coffee table that sat in front of the couch.

"This." She said, lifting a gold plated hipflask from where Tamsin had been seated. "What about this? It's been sitting here for the past three nights."

Tamsin pushed her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, strutting towards the couch. "That thing used to belong to Edith Piaf."

"Oh please." Lauren moaned.

"I'm serious!" Tamsin took the flask in her hand, examining closely. "What incentive do I have to lie? Look, I'm not trying to name drop here, you asked for evidence of the importance of these _things_ and I'm just giving it to you."

Lauren shook her head, still steadfastly refusing to yield in the battle of stuff versus things. Instead she moved to the side of the couch and leant down.

"And what about these?" She picked up one of Tamsin's boots.

"Belonged to Katharine Hepburn."

This time Lauren's shoulders dropped momentarily, that was before she spotted something next to television.

"And this?" She held a black leather wallet in her hand and opened it, flicking through a couple of the cards. "This isn't even yours!"

"True." Tamsin walked over and took the wallet from her hand. "I stole it from Dyson this afternoon after he made me pay for lunch. It does have a fifty in it though, so it's still valuable."

"I'm not going to win this am I?" Lauren sounded deflated, but her shoulders straightened as Tamsin walked up to her and pulled playfully on her shirt.

"What can I say? I have a lot of things." The Valkyrie's voice was raspy once more as she pulled Lauren flush against her body.

"Tamsin…"

There was a pause between them as they watched each other.

"I'm here too much aren't I?" There was a vulnerability to Tamsin's question that cut into Lauren's chest, so she kissed her, softly and in comfort before smiling and rolling her eyes.

"You are here  _a lot_."

"I know. But the crack shack never has food or booze and the chances of getting laid here are much much better."

Lauren was smiling in her arms but Tamsin was fidgeting, uncomfortable under her gaze. When Lauren continued just to watch her she pulled her arms away and went to move.

"I can go if you like?"

Lauren caught her by the hand and pulled her back in.

"I don't want you to go. I like you here, it's just your  _things_ are always lying all over the house and I like my things and my home to have order."

"Ok." Tamsin conceded. "I think I can manage to be a little more orderly." She dropped her head into Lauren neck, nuzzling into the crook of her shoulder and biting softly at the skin there. "I won't come over as often, not unless you ask me to."

Lauren grinned into her hair and brought a hand up to scratch her scalp.

"What about if I ask you to be here all the time? Maybe, I can clean out some space so your  _things_  can have a place here, with us."

For the longest moment Tamsin said nothing, her body stiffened where she stood. When she finally did move it was tentative and just enough to lift her teeth up from Lauren's shoulder.

"Are you asking me to move in?"

Lauren's cheek pressed gently into Tamsin's hair. The light fragrance she carried now was new to this life, sweeter than before.

"I guess yes, I am. That is to say, only if you want to."

They held to each other like that in the weighty quiet of the apartment as what felt like long minutes passed by.

"We're hopeless at this." Tamsin pulled back, with brown eyes fast upon her eager for an answer. "I've been wanting this, to move in I mean. But rather than talk to you about it, I've been hanging about here hoping you wouldn't say anything about the fact I already have."

Lauren laughed. "You've already moved in?"

"Well, yeah. I really only go back to Bo's for clean clothes and just long enough so you don't notice I'm here virtually every waking moment that you are."

Lauren leant in and kissed her, hard enough to elicit that deep growl from Tamsin's chest that she seemed to save for those moments of intense want. When they pulled away both were a little breathless.

"Why didn't you just tell me you wanted to move in?"

Tamsin was still panting a little, her arms wrapped tight around Lauren's back. "I didn't want you to say no."

Lauren's eyes were shut as once again she had wet kisses running up her neck. "I think we're both working out I find it very difficult to say no to you."

She could feel Tamsin grinning into her skin. "Is that so?"

The sound Lauren made as she felt a thumb run along the hem or her jeans was something like 'uh, huh', but wasn't. It was closer to a moan, a desperate raspy moan.

Tamsin was enjoying the lost vocabulary. "So, if I was to make a suggestion right now, you'd be amenable?"

Lauren's eyes peeked open. "If you say Japanese horror I might put you out on the street."

"As tempting as that is Doc, and I won't deny that it is, I was going to suggest bed. Our bed." Tamsin gave her a slightly embarrassed smile.

Biting her lip before wiggling out of the arms around her Lauren picked up the remote control and switched off the television. She took Tamsin by the hand and led her to  _their_ bedroom for the first time.

"Good start Tamsin. Very good start."

And it was.


End file.
